The Thing About Heroes
by Cadet Eyes
Summary: Short ficlets about the new trio and their takes on heroes. Chapter 4: Now with bonus Kylo Ren!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello friends. Star Wars, amirite?**

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The thing about heroes is no one ever talks about what they have to give up.

To Poe Dameron, his parents were heroes. Both had fought in, and survived, the battle at Endor. In truth they were just like every other adult on Yavin, but to a ten year old Poe, who grew up hearing stories of their bravery, they were practically legends.

All he ever wanted to be was just like them.

It isn't until years later, after he's well established in the Resistance with a reputation as the best pilot in the galaxy, does he start to see hints of what it really takes to be a hero.

He sees it in his squadrons eyes after the lose one of their own, and he knows they can see it in his, too. It's in General Organas demeanor every time she has to send troops on anything other than a supply run. It's everywhere around the base, and it never really leaves.

A shadow that follows them around. That hangs over all of them like a cloak. A shadow that says 'Yes, I survived, but no, I won't be the same."

And now that he knows how to spot it, he realizes that it was there with his parents, but he never understood what it was.

Then, after Jakku and the First Order, after the destruction of Starkiller Base, Poe begins to wish he wasn't a hero at all.

There's commotion everywhere as everyone works over time to move to a new base, but they still find time to whisper in awe about him.

 _Survived Kylo Ren._

 _Stole a TIE fighter right out of the Orders hangar._

 _Blew up Starkiller._

 _Found the map to Skywalker._

He wants to tell them the truth. About the restlessness and inability to sleep. The god awful nightmares when he finally does nod off. How he jumps every time someone even remotely catches him by surprise. How he's felt wrong in his own head ever since.

Because if it meant not having to deal with all that, he'd give up being a hero in a D'Qar minute.

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 ***Gives big smile and points to the review and favorite buttons***


	2. Chapter 2

**Reposted because of some messed up formatting. That's what I get for trying to copy/paste from ao3 with out double checking :)**

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The thing about heroes is the word has never quite been a part of his vocabulary.

Before he was Finn, he was FN-2187. One of thousands of nameless, faceless stormtroopers. Just one in a sea of identical white helmets.

The idea of heroes was never discussed. To them, it meant standing out. It meant having everyone looking at you, seeing just you, apart from the crowd. For an army made to be identical, standing out meant trouble, and was the last thing they wanted to do.

On the rare occasions their superiors mentioned the word, it was spit out with scorn and disdain.

FN-2187 never gave the idea of being a hero a single thought.

Finn couldn't seem to stop it from happening.

When he was surrounded by Republic officials, the famed Admiral Ackbar and General Organa herself, all looking at him like he was their salvation, he couldn't help but wonder how he got here.

All he wanted was to get as far away from the Orders reach as he could. Find a nice working class planet in the Outer Rim and disappear. But he chose to go back for his friend. Now, on D'Qar, where the only name people care about is the one he has now, he finally feels like he belongs.

Maybe, Finn thinks, being a hero isn't so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Turns out writing Rey is really hard**

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The thing about heroes is she isn't really sure what one is.

Of course, objectively speaking, she knows what it means. But growing up around the likes of Unkar Plutt, she's never seen it put into practice.

To her, heroes are brave and fearless, like the pilots in the stories she used to hear about the rebellion. They're selfless, like the old Jedi Order was supposed to be.

The residents of Jakku, who would sooner steal a ration straight from your hand than help someone in need, didn't exactly fit that image.

Her meeting with Han Solo is her first brush with someone others called a hero, even if the man himself seemed to hate the title.

He seemed, if nothing else, exceedingly unremarkable. His clothes weren't patchy, but clearly old and well worn, and his face showed signs of years of battle. If he had walked into Niima Outpost, Rey wouldn't have spared him a glance. Listening to Finn list off the things General Solo did confuses her, and shakes up her image of heroes for the first time.

Days later, as she's walking around D'Qar as personnel scramble to prepare for a move, she doesn't see the shiny metal starfighters and top of the line equipment that always accompanied her dreams. She sees patch work materials and patch work ships and patch work people, all doing what they were simply because it was the right thing to do, and she realizes this is what heroes really were.

If this was really what being a hero meant, Rey thinks she likes it all the more than what she dreamed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Blame Kylo Ren for this chapter. He didn't like being left out. This is his fault.**

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The thing about heroes is he can't stand them.

Full stop, no question about it. Kylo Ren absolutely hates heroes.

With them being all self righteous and self sacrificing and acting like they're better than their peers when really they were just useless. What good was a person who was fully willing to die for their cause? What use were they? Much better to be a person willing to fight tooth and nail to survive so they could finish their mission and come out swinging in the next fight.

The First Order didn't have time for heroes. Sure, all of them are willing to die for the cause, but not even the stormtroopers were suicidal.

Oh, he doesn't delude himself into thinking he's a hero. He knows exactly what he is, and it isn't that.

He sees it in the resistance pilot they capture on Jakku. The conviction that he'd sooner die than tell them anything about the map. Had it been anyone else interrogating him, that would've been the most likely outcome. There's a tiny, vindictive part of him that wants to let that happen, just so he can send the body back to the General, to show her what really happens to heroes.

But just a quick glimpse into his mind shows him that this pilot has more useful information than just the map, so he decides to keep him alive for now. He won't let on to anyone that he gets a certain enjoyment over having turned this Resistance golden boy into a common prisoner.

But then he escapes, with the help of a stormtroopers no less, and leaves the hangar a mess of fire and warped steel, and Kylo Ren makes the decision then and there.

He absolutely loathes heroes.


End file.
